An El Salvadoran Season

I would bet that almost every International Studies student my age or older at some point took a geography class with Dr. Johnson. Certainly all the Model UN kids did. Why did we flock to his classes? Was it his Brittish accent? His good looks (which some of us recognized more than others, I will admit)? His knowledge of river blindness and other common African diseases? Or was it the fact that with at least five Munners per class, we could spend all night in the offices sharing answers to the take home essay questions the night before they were due?

I personally remember the book report he assigned us each semester. The directions were broad: "Read a book that incorporates different aspects of Sub-Saharan African geography (or Middle East/North Africa, whatever the class happened to be) and write about it." I was a sophomore the year I took Sub-Saharan and the book I chose was An African Season by Leonard Levitt. Levitt recounts his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in what would later become Tanzania, and after discussing the human, political, and physical geography contained within the book, I wrote how I planned on serving my own African season after graduation. Dr. Johnson, with all the exhuberance he always embodied, sincerely wished me luck and said he hoped I did find my way to Africa someday.

I suppose that is where the title comes from for this blog--but instead of Africa I'll be heading for Central America. On September 16th I leave to meet 26 fellow Volunteers in Washington, DC, and on the 18th we leave together to begin our 27 month seasons in El Salvador.

Levitt's book chronicled his service and I suppose this blog is my attempt to do the same. Let's hope this project turns out well. I am, afterall, the girl who started that seven day Crest teeth whitening program and gave up on day two because it was too big of a commitment. Fortunately I feel that my desire to write and share stories and pictures will be much stronger than my ability to wake up half an hour early to put some toothguard on my teeth (you know how much I love my sleep).

And if I'm being completely honest...half of my blog title comes from a Dixie Chicks song. But hey, we all have our guilty pleasures and the quirky things that motivate us to do the things we do in life.